The development of writing in ancient Egypt also gave rise to the first libraries as places of storage for these witnesses to a new, revolutionary cultural technology. However, the library was not just a collection of cultural treasures but also a place where the entire knowledge of the state was concentrated, a central collection of important information.

Both in the ancient world and the present day know-how has always been a vital aspect of the economy and of a state’s survival in itself, and it has therefore been carefully guarded.
Cultures like that of the Romans, for example, valued not just the scientific but also the educational and entertainment aspects of literature… (by Susanne Fritz)